The Impact of Having Zach Back

Zach LaVine’s return from injury is looming. Is that necessarily a good thing for the Bulls?

NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson reported yesterday that the Chicago Bulls assigned injured wing Zach LaVine to their G League squad. The team did this so that he could ramp up his practice regiment ahead of his imminent return to NBA play.

The 9-year pro out of UCLA has been out since November 29 with right foot inflammation. As the team’s leading scorer for four of the last five seasons, this type of extended absence is normally debilitating to a franchise’s on-court success. Not in Chicago. The team has actually improved leaps and bounds without Zach on the active roster.

The Bulls were 5-14 when LaVine was placed on the inactive list. They were 24th in net rating (-7.1), 26th in offensive rating (108.6), and 22nd in defensive rating (116.0). Since then, Chicago has gone 10-5, sporting the league’s 9th-best net rating (3.4), 16th-best offense (116.5), and fifth-best defense (113.2).

Johnson indicated in his report that head coach Billy Donovan and LaVine’s teammates see this improvement without him as a coincidence. I don’t buy that. Even when he was playing, his on-off numbers were unflattering. The Bulls saw a 5.8-point improvement in offensive rating and a 3.2-point improvement in defensive rating (totaling a 9.0-point improvement in net rating) whenever LaVine was on the bench in the 18 games he played.

For these reasons, I’m legitimately concerned about the Bulls’ fortunes when he ultimately returns. Perhaps the early-season struggles were due to his attempt to play through his injuries. Optimistically, this rest could be just want he needed to plug back in to this improving squad. I also credit the team for believing in him and feeling that he will be a position re-addition.

I unfortunately find myself more cynical about LaVine’s return. Perhaps it’s the outgrowth of being a midwestern sports fan: it’s hard to trust that things will go well for long. I have been out on Zach LaVine as a Bull since his infamous November 2022 temper-tantrum. To recap, LaVine flat out stunk on both ends of the court, generating four points on 1-of-14 shooting, five rebounds, two assists, no steals nor blocks, and a plus-minus of minus-19 before being benched for the final 3:43 of the game in what was ultimately a one-point loss to the Orlando Magic.

Then LaVine lacked the self-awareness to understand why he got benched in the post game. Instead of owning up and fully apologizing for his performance, he ended up saying “you play a guy like me down the stretch”. It disgusted me, and I’ve wanted him gone ever since. Unfortunately, the trade market for him has been barren.

Zach LaVine’s absence has provided opportunities for Coby White and Patrick Williams to take massive leaps in scoring, and the team as a whole to be more in concert with one another. I worry that all this goodwill will vanish when No. 8 comes back. Friday’s tilt versus the Charlotte Hornets is his projected return date, so we’ll find out soon enough if LaVine will be a changed man.